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The President of the Republic of the Philippines taking shots

Street Fighter IV

I've never been a fan of any fighting games. I tried all of these arcade stuffs before and was no good on proper timing, using combos, and even blocking and dodging attacks. I'm to admit that even on the easiest gameplay I seldom win or finish the game -- where the opponent (AI) doesn't bother to block any attacks.

I sure look dumb competing it out with my friends. Certain to say, I've almost given up to learn how to play these kind of games.

I never imagined that after all the frustrations on arcade gaming (even in the console ones) I would grab a copy of the latest fighting game, Street Fighter IV for PC.

It was both due to the graphics and game play that I wanted to test it out on my rig.

For the graphics, it's not really that a big deal but the mash up of the 2D and its nearly realistic background is enough for me to say its great, not mention there are some 3D effects especially when you do the power moves. There are other extra effects like additional Ink, Posterization and Watercolor which I think makes the characters more cartoon like and embossed them out of the background. The game actually reminds me of Prince of Persia IV released December of '08.

For the gameplay, over the past 3 years I've been with PC gaming, there is no fighting game I knew of being released; and since it has been ages that I haven't played any arcade fighting games, I thought of trying this one out. First, I became fascinated with the benchmarking test. It really runs smoothly with my rig, considering its already a year old (C2Q 2.4Ghz, 8800GT, 2GB RAM), It still runs at 50FPS with v-sync turned On. It is just another compliment that PC platforms are more powerful than console type platforms. During the actual game, there has been no lag times where I believe Capcom really exerted their effort. I've also scanned the memory usage during the gameplay and surprisingly everything seems to be stable and perfect.

How I've wished I could enjoy the game similar to how the test battle went. Unfortunately I can't. I'm using an XFX Controller and its pretty tactile. I think the only problem is my own ability to play these type of games. In the end, it is my brother who enjoyed much playing the game. We often battle each other out but I always ended up as a loser. Maybe next time I'll buy a real arcade type joystick just for fun.

Nonetheless, I'm still enjoying the game and recommends it to all PC platform players out there.

Here is one of the Benchmark results which is nearly similar to my own pc specs. However, note that FPS tend to go down and lags, perhaps due to the recording and his processor spec.



For the game review and other discussions, visit pc.gamespot.com

Japanese SpiderMan

Did you know...

How SpiderMan suits up?
Where he previously lived?
The name of his real villains?
Whether he have any vehicles?
What his old wrist gadget looks like?
If he ever attempted to use weapons?
... and that he has a freakin' robot?

Forget about it... I kind of slip on the last one... Just watch these youtube videos...



I bet that you might as well be browsing for more. It cannot be helped. Here's the wikipedia entry for your immediate reading pleasure.

Filipino Facebook Spoof

I'm really not a social networking kind of guy but I've saw myself getting hooked up with Facebook due vast amount of applications where I realized I almost spent nearly 3 hours a day checking the games I'm playing and visiting friends pages. Certainly, their approach of catering third-party developers and application designers made the famous over their other competitors.

It's just not often for me to see that the later beats the former king, especially on the field of computing, where the former already establishes credibility and name to its users.

I do not have the tally to say that Facebook already beaten its competitors in terms of popularity and marginal number of users all over the world. But here in the Philippines, it is evidently seen that the tool/site is spreading like a wildfire.

This spoof site, where you could see both Philippine and International stars wind up together for some humorous content, just demonstrates how Facebook dominates the contest.

If you're a Filipino who wants to have a laugh trip you would definitely enjoy facebuko.com.

Also, remember to support the web developer on any way you can.

The Man Of His Time

I may not have lived during his era; I may not exactly know certain parts of the history he is speaking of; and I may not have the slightest feeling of what he was fighting for; but this speech summarizes everything.

In commemoration of Benigno Ninoy Aquino Jr's death (August 21st) I decided to listen to the history I was not yet part of, and to my surprise I was not disappointed. Not a single touch of boredom for the entire 90 minutes for a person like me who is never fond listening to political addresses.


Thanks to the NAtv who posted it on Youtube giving tribute to a real opposition and a modern day national hero.

Here is the copy of his speech in case you opted to read.(thanks to real-encounters.blogspot.com)

Buying a Preconfigured Computer Package for Newbies

There are a lot of advertisements and promotions offering cutting edge and affordable preconfigured desktop and laptop computers.

Most are assembled in accordance to the buying power of the market and packaged on what is most likely pleasing to the ear and vivid for the eyes. However, as potential market, we should not just be obscured by these two factors alone as there are still ample of things we should consider.

With my experience to the field, I will try to detail out a basic guide on what should we consider on buying a PC.

1.] Define your NEED - primarily, you would not buy a thing for no purpose at all. Even if you intend to buy something for bragging rights, it still has a defined purpose -- to brag. For PC's the common needs are categorized based on portability, entertainment capabilities and project handling.

• Portability - remote usage; the very first thing you would ask yourself. Then ask yourself why again. Always take note that laptops though portable, have at most 2-4 hours of battery life. In case you plug it in and plan to use it 8-12 hours a day, make sure you could maintain a good atmosphere. Also, the price of a laptop is higher than of a desktop, provided they are of the same specification. Lastly, most high end laptops are heavy unless you buy a mac book air.

• Entertainment Capabilities - gaming, movies and music; who would want to have a PC not capable of handling these. Music could never be a problem as most audio chips are built in within the motherboards today. Movies and games, on the other hand, might require later video cards, especially movies in high definition and games that are nearly realistic. Often, movies that can't be played are due to codec /software issues. Also consider that most laptops have integrated audio and video cards on thier motherboards. Note that most of these cannot be upgraded in case you desire for future time.
  

• Project handling - projects ranging from typical text document; to coding; to graphics and multimedia. Typical document creation could easily be done thru any PC today. Consideration would start if you plan to use your PC for programming where you need to invest more on RAM. If for graphics, video rendering, 3D stuffs and other multimedia rendering you would be seeing yourself investing on the RAM, Processor and Video Card -- laptops would not be a choice for this. We will talk about those specifications later below.

2.] Fix your BUDGET - you could dream of the most high end PC available in the market today but the question is, can you be able to purchase it? After identifying your needs you should now be able to check you wallet. This is actually the hardest step unless you are financially flexible. This step should also involve a mere future sight of until when your purchase would live its purpose. Face the fact that technology, nowadays, changes on a very fast phase. Considering hardware upgrade on the long run would also be part of your budget.

3.] Identify the BRAND - Branding is not just limited to the name but the services and other intangibles you will benefit from. Ranging from durability, performance and services such as warranties and other customer support.

4.] Select a PRODUCT - Take a peak on those ads of the BRAND of your choice. This would involve a good research and I advice you to read forums and other testimonials from the other purchasers, but also remember to capture only those which you think are sensible and factual enough.

5.] Read the PACKAGE - Marketing strategies of today tend to focus on the aesthetics and promos (freebies and sale). But if you plan to have a decent PC, try to look on those after checking on these: (I will not focus on the branding and architecture -- e.g. Intel / AMD, Nvidia / ATI)

• Processor / CPU - the core of your computer; this is how fast your computer works. Currently, multiple core processor have been released. I strongly advise that you settle for a quad core processor (means for CPU in a single chip). If budget resist, you could go for a dual core processors (means two CPU in a single chip). After determining the number of cores, check the Ghz or Gigahertz; this is how fast your CPU would process the requests. The higher the number the better -- but more expensive.

• RAM / Memory - also known as the temporary storage. To put it simply, when you open a computer program, it does not just loads up to nowhere, it is stored on the RAM; while you are working on a text editing document, or while your browsing this page from a web browser, it takes up an amount of RAM. The larger the RAM (in terms of Megabytes or Gigabytes) the more number of applications you could simultaeneously work with and the more number of requests can be handled which would be then processed by the CPU. For modern computers it is recommended to have 1-2GB of RAM installed. Loading the Operating System (e.g. Windows, Linux, Ubuntu, UNIX) already takes up ample RAM especially the latest ones. Aside from the MB/GB capacity you should also check the DDR; it determines the speed of how it stores the temporary data. Just to iterate, the later version is more powerful than the previous ones.
  

• Video Card / GPU - video cards of today are already like a mini motherboard; it has it own processor and RAM. The difference is that, it only functions to provide graphics and resolution. Similar to Processor and RAM, the higher the Ghz and GB, the better. For gaming and graphics rendering, powerful video cards are needed. There are also motherboards capable of supporting two video cards but I've not seen any offering yet as a preconfigured package.

• Hard Disk / HDD - your permanent storage; this is where your files are stored. Basically you would consider the storage capacity in terms of GB (similar to RAM); the higher, the more files you can store. Another consideration is whether you choose a standard IDE or SATA I or II. Both refers again to the transfer speed. IDE is already a legacy while SATA is currently evolving. The storage capacity would then be up to your need. RPM as you may read or the revolution per minute dictates the speed of how data could travel in and out of the Hard Disk; again the higher the number, the faster.
  

These are the four major PC specifications, the others are close to being add ons or part only of the promotion. If the package also has an LCD monitor, you may also want to check the contrast ratio and the screen size. Some computer package even bundles with a free Operating System.

You may find Steps 3 to 5 looping until you were able to find a suitable product for your demand. Sometimes your budget would also scale up or down depending to the current market offering of the available products.

Just some tip, always buy electronic items / gadgets during the third quarter of the year (July-Sept). Most SALES and promos happen here. This is due to the trend that companies would be releasing their new products during the 4th quarter of the year for the Holiday seasons -- where prices soar high.

Hello World

I've decided to start blogging for two purposes; to serve up as a repository of the knowledge, experiences and other day to day personal encounters; and to share it to those who might get lost and found themselves bumping onto these pages.